Across All Ends
by Invisia
Summary: "They call themselves Ethereal Entities; they are of no world but their own. They exist out of space and time, and are here to guide you. They will change... everything." Time-Travel/AU. Full summery inside.
1. Chapter 1: Oppurtunities

**A/N: **The strange concept for this story came to me literally out of nowhere. I'm also trying harder to improve my writing, so I'm going to add more detail, descriptions, and hopefully make this more interesting.

**Full Summery: **_"They call themselves Ethereal Entities; they are of no world but their own. They exist out of space and time, and are here to guide you. They will change... everything."_

For all eternity they lie in darkness, while their subconscious selves are trapped in the meadow. Of course, they don't mind, since they're together. Then, when The Professor comes to them and offers them a challenge, they will of course take it. Now, returned to the world of the Living, these three spirits must guide their living selves to victory, or perish in their own...

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter; that honour belongs to J.K Rowling. I simply own the plot to this particular fanfiction.

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**Chapter One**

**Opportunity**

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_"Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an oppertunity," _- Khalil Gibran

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The sun shone in the deep sky-blue sky. Thin whisps of clouds hung around it, drifting slowly in the warm summer breeze. Below this sky, surrounded by low hedges on each side, was a large meadow. It was made up of rolling green hills, dotted with the bright yellow of dandelion flowers. On top of the highest hill was a large weeping willow, its tendrils hanging so low they swept the ground. The trunk was ancient, gnarled and knotted, the branches twisted and turned. The leaves were a pale green, almost white against the rich blue of the bright sky. In the distance, on the horizon, were the shadows and silhouettes of trees. They leaned slightly over, whether because of the wind or age, one simply could not know from such a way away.

Bird calls filled the air as goldfinches perched on the hedges, starlings glided low over the grass, and pheasants nested in the shade. In the boughs of the great willow huddled an barn owl; it seemed to be sleeping, and was very old. It could've been dead, if it's chest didn't rise and fall every ten seconds or so. A lone rabbit raced across the grass, stopping every so often to sniff the air before running again. A second rabbit joined the first, and the two weaved around the other's paths before disappearing down a hole, into their warren. Dozing in the shade of the hedgerow was a bushy-tailed fox, it's nose quivering as it dreamt. A badger poked its nose out of its den before darting back inside again, a wood mouse nibbled a seed and a shrew sat contentedly amongst the grass. It was a vision of peace as the warm sun shone down on this unlikely sight.

Pearls of laughter also split the air. In the large confines of the meadow were three children, their faces bright with glee. They seemed to be playing some sort of game- perhaps tag, or something similar, as there seemed to be much chasing going on.

The first of these children had dark, messy hair, round glasses and below them eyes like emeralds, though everyone he had met called them 'Lily Eyes'. He sometimes wondered why, after all, before the meadow much was uncertain. The years here had all but wiped the past from hid memory. His knees were knobbly, and he was oddly thin and small. On his forehead, partly hidden by his fringe, was a long, thin scar, shaped like a bolt of lightening.

The second child was also male, but couldn't have been different to the first. His hair was a bright orange, blazing like fire in the sun. His pale face was scattered with ginger freckles, and above these his eyes were cornflower blue. He was long, thin and gangly, with a rather large nose.

The final child was female; one could tell in her posture and face, if in nothing else. Her long hair was brown and frizzy, framing her petite face. Her eyes were also brown, the rich colour of cocoa. Her teeth were quite long- "Bugs Bunny," her parents had once called her long ago, in a faded memory- and her tolerance for foolishness quite short. Beneath the child was, however, knowledge far beyond her years- in fact, there always had been.

All three were no older than thirteen and no younger than ten. They seemed to be just like any other carefree child of their age as they played together in the burning sun. However, if you had been observing them for quite some time, you would find this was not the case.

The children never ate or drank; they never seemed to need to. From dawn till dusk, when the sun was in the sky, they would play- with each other, by themselves, with the wildlife, and the girl would, on occasion, make daisy chains for her friends. Then, when the sun set, they would he'd up to the tallest hill to the only tree, and would lie beneath the willow's fronds. Then, as they drifted into a dreamless sleep, the barn owl in the tree would open its eyes, ruffle its feathers and soar up into the night sky. This happened everyday; it had happened every day, for all eternity.

_So why does our story bring us to this place?_ you may ask yourself. Well, as you will soon find out, this day was most extraordinary in the lives of these three children.

Around the sun's highest point in the sky- known to you an I as noon- a man emerged from the trees in the distance. Of course, the children did not notice this at all, wrapped up in their eternal game. The man walked across the field, slowly, not in any hurry to arrive. He walked on and on until he reached the hedge, looking out into the meadow. He saw all the things that resided here, including the three children, and smiled. He then opened a gate that had not been there before and walked into the meadow.

This man was quite short, with a long white beard and matching hair. His bright blue eyes sparkled like stars above his half-moon glasses. On his head he wore a bright blue wizard's hat, adorned with silver stars; his robes matched the hat, and below them he wore sandals- flip-flops, to be exact.

The gate closed behind him, and leaves began to grow; vines curled into branches and it turned back into a section of hedge. He strolled on through the meadow, heading towards the three children.

It was the girl who saw him first. She stopped in her playing, her steps faltering, and pointed him out to her friends. The three of them stopped playing, falling silent and standing in a line. The man seemed to notice none of this and continued slowly forwards, until he stopped several feet from the children.

"Hello, Professor," the first boy spoke.

"Hello, Harry," the man greeted.

"What brings you here, Professor?" the girl asked politely.

"I have a proposition," The Professor told them.

"A what?" the second boy asked in confusion.

"An offer, Ronald!" the girl hissed back. "Quiet!"

The boy known as Ronald pulled a face but fell quiet anyway.

"I have just discovered a timeline at a turning-point; a turning point that can only be changed by you three."

"So what do you wish us to do?" the boy known as Harry asked.

"I'm sending you back to be their guides. I'm sending you back to change them for the better." The Professor frowned. "In my youth I was foolish and manipulative; you must understand this. You need to make sure things turn out for the better, even if you have to go against living me."

"So what do we do?" the girl asked. "Is there a set goal? Something we need to learn?"

"No, though I see you are as knowledge-seeking as always, Hermione dearest," The Professor said with a smile. "You must simply change. Build them a brighter future; a future you never had chance to witness."

Then, all of a sudden, the children began to fade; or was the meadow the thing that was fading? It was hard to be certain.

"Remember," The Professor called to them, "You hold the answers, nothing but the truth. If you know, you may only ask. If you ask, you may never know..."

Then the three children vanished from existence, and The Professor smiled. Those three children would change the world, and undo his mistakes. His smile faded. He had destroyed their future, and they had been so young; he could only hope that this time, this time they would do it right.

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**A/N: **Love it? Hate it? Then leave a review!

-Invisi


	2. Chapter 2: Talking to No-One

**A/N: **I have nothing to say except for, here's the next chapter!

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling. I only own the plot to this particular fanfiction.

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**Chapter Two**

**Talking To No-One**

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_"I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me," _- Ralph Elison

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The people of Grimmauld Place had long since grown used to the odd numbering of the houses; after all, what street was more strange than one where a house was forgotten to be built? The house numbers jumped straight from 'eleven' to 'thirteen', but it had been this way so long that most residences forgot about it.

However, unbeknownst to them, number 12, Grimmauld Place did exsist. They simply couldn't see it, since it was protected by every ward known to wizardkind, and under the Fidelius Charm since June 1995. It was on the 13th August of this same year that something happened to change all that lay within the house, and no-one outside would know of this development until much, much later.

It happened in the basement kitchen. Harry Potter, the famous boy-who-lived, his best friend Hermione Granger, the smartest witch of her age, the Weasley family and several order members sat down to dinner, chattering amongst themselves. Harry, Hermione and the youngest Weasley son, Ronald (or Ron for short), were talking more about Harry's trial the day before, and how great it had been that he was let off- and how idiotic the misistry were being for not believing that Lord Voldemort was back.

"Well, what I don't see is-" Hermione was saying, and then she was cut off as, just like that, three more people appeared in the room.

Ron yelled, Hermione shrieked, and Harry's hand flew to his wand. Everybody else stopped and looked at them in confusion.

"Um, are you three alright over there?" Bill Weasley called, looking concerned.

"Who," Harry asked quietly, "Are they?"

"Are who?" George asked, trying not to laugh. "Harry, are you alright mate?"

"There's no-one there," Fred added.

The trio exchanged a glance, then looked back at the three who had just appeared in the room. They all looked very real, and very familiar...

In the middle was a black-haired boy with green eyes, glasses and a lightening bolt scar on his forehead. To his left stood a boy with bright copper hair, freckles and cornflower blue eyes; to his left, a frizzy-haired girl with brown hair and buck teeth.

"They're right there!" Hermione protested, pointing straight at them.

"There's no-one there," Sirius said irritably. "Is this your idea of a joke? Because if it is, it's not very funny-"

"Hello," the three strangers- or were they strangers, the trio wondered- chorused.

"Who are you?" Ron demanded. Everyone else exchanged a bewildered glance, and returned to watch the trio.

"I am Ron Weasley, born 2nd March 1980, died 29th May 1993," the one who looked very much like Ron asked.

Ron ignored the last bit, instead sneering. "Yeah, you are, are you? Then who am I?"

"You are Ron Weasley, born 2nd March 1980, death TBD."

"That makes perfect sense," Ron scoffed, at the same time as Hermione enquired,

"TBD?"

"To Be Decided," the Hermione-lookalike explained.

"Here's another question," Harry began, "What are you? How come no-one else can see you?"

"We are Ethereal Entities," Harry- or at least, it looked like Harry- explained. "And no-one can see as we haven't enough energy yet."

"Entities?" Hermione asked, bewildered. "Energy? What do you mean?"

"And Ethereal Entity is a being sent from the Ethereal plane to a timeline that differs from the one they once lived in to guide their alternate selves," the Hermione doppleganger explained. "The energy that creates our materilaized being comes in three parts- Trust Energy, Ethereal Energy, and Being Energy. The more Trust Energy we gather, the more people can see us, and the more Ethereal Energy we loose. The more Ethereal Energy we lose, the more Being Energy we gain. If Ethreal Energy hits rock bottom and Being Energy reaches sky high, then we gain our own bodies and reenter the plane of the living."

"Oh!" Hermione gasped. "I understand now!"

"You do?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow. "I lost het at 'Ethereal'." Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Well, you see-"

"Who are you talking to?" Fred asked, and the three froze.

"Well... you can't see them," Ron began.

"Duh," Ginny drawled.

"If you had listened you would know more then that!" Hermione exclaimed, exhasperated. "They call themselves 'Ethereal Enities'. Now, Ethereal means 'heavenly', 'light', 'airy' or 'delecate'. In this case, it refers to 'heavenly'- something not of this earth, but instead belonging to a different place- the 'Ethereal Plane', or the home of the dead. 'Entity' means 'something that has a real body', an object or person. So, in this case, they call themselves Heavenly Bodies, Heavenly People, sort of like guardian angels but not quite. Why did you say you were here again?" she added, turning to the three spirits.

"We are to be your guides, of course," Entity Hermione replied with a smile. "We're here to help you. We're here to change things for the better."

"They're here to guide us, and change things," Hermione summerized to everyone else.

"So, let me get this straight," Bill began, "They call themselves Ethereal Entities; they are of no world but their own. They exist out of space and time, and are here to guide you. They will change... everything?"

"Pretty much," Hermione agreed.

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Hermione Granger did not believe in spirits or heaven. She was not religious, and she never believed anything without proof. This was just the way she functioned; anything else was unheard of. This was why, twenty minutes later, she paced back and forth across the floor of the boy's room, confused beyond belief.

"This doesn't make sense, this is impossible, magic has it's limits and this is beyond those, oh God, what do we do-?"

"Hermione, shut up!" Ron cried. "You've been rambling on for the last ten minutes- you need to breathe!"

"He's right," a voice intervened. "It's not fun not breathing."

Hermione whirled around to see the three Entities watching her. "Oh," she greeted breathlessly, "Hello."

"We were wondering if you wanted to know anything," Entity Harry said nonchantly, "But if you're not bothered..."

"NO!" all three chorused, and the spirits grinned at each other.

"Where is Voldemort?"

"What is the weapon Sirius let slip?"

"Do we win?"

Harry and Hermione turned to Ron, eyebrows raised.

"What?" he asked with a shrug. "They're weird, spirity things, they should know the future!"

"Which future, though?" Entity Harry asked. "We cannot see the future of this timeline- we can see the future of several others. Some you win, some you loose- and everything depends on a single decision made by one person at a single point in time."

"Oh? And what's that?" Hermione asked.

"Anytime, any place, anyone, anything," Entity Hermione explained, "It varies completely."

"As to your earlier question, Voldemort is currently hiding out in Riddle Manor, Little Winging," Entity Ron added. Hermione paused, frowning, then nodded.

"As for Harry's question," Entity Hermione added, "He is after two things that could very well be weapons. First: a prophecy found in the Hall of Prophecy. Second: the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand in the world."

"Prophecy?" Harry asked interestedly, but the three were beggining to fade.

"We left out one formof energy," Entity Hermione called to them tiredly. "Current Energy. When Current Energy gets low, we have to recharge. We'll be seeing you..."

Just like that, they were gone.

"Sooo..." Ron began, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen. "That was weird, right?"

He was silenced by his friends glares. _Right, _he thought to himself.

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**A/N: **Thanks for the follows and favourite! Hope you enjoyed chapter two, and please, please, please review?


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